WELCOME TO ERIE LACKAWANNA PAGE OF THEBLUECOMET.COM

The Erie-Lackawanna was result of the merger of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and the Erie Railroad in 1960.  A few parallel lines were eliminated, but most the systems remained until the Conrail takeover on April 1, 1976.  The pictures presented here are from 1973 to 1976 beginning from Hoboken.

Update:  The Erie Lackawanna pages will be undergoing a major upgrade in the very near future !!!!!!

Hoboken Terminal is the last of the classic waterfront terminals that once lined the shores of the Hudson River.  It remains very much in use today including ferry service.

  There were several tug boats used to move carfloats across the river to Manhattan.  The last of these are the Marion and the Akron shown in 1975.

  The railroads business cars sit along side of the terminal. 

The main freight yard in the New York City area was located in Secaucus, NJ and was known as Croxton yard.  It was a former Erie facility that was expanded after the merger.

   NW-2 415 works the yard in 1974.  The New Jersey Turnpike and the Penn Central, nee-PRR (Amtrak) main pass over the middle of the yard.

   Alco C425 2456 sits at the engine facility with a GP-35. 1974

  A look at the same general area in 2009.  Conrail cleaned out the entire area and nothing remains today.

   SD45-2 3670 arrives  with an eastbound piggyback train off the old Erie main.

   Several units are lined up on a cool November 1975 evening.

We will begin first on the former Lackawanna side to Binghamton and return to the Erie later.  If you want to go to the Erie side of things now, click here.

The Lackawanna had an extensive electrified commuter network out of Hoboken terminal.  The old M-U cars ran until the mid-1980's before being replaced.  

  This is the junction point where all lines leading into Hoboken join, including the former Erie routes.  It is located under Tonnelle Ave., Jersey City.  Note the tower and drawbridge in the distance.

  On a cold, snowy night the switch heaters are working to keep things moving.

  The Lackawanna had their own station on Broad St. in Newark, NJ

   Summit is the site of the junction of the main to Dover and the Gladstone branch.  Several trains also terminate here with a storage yard for the MU cars.

   Just west of the station the line to Gladstone swings off the main.  A westbound train to Dover rolls past in 1974.

The single track branch ran as far as Gladstone, NJ and featured wooden poles for the catenary.

   An eastbound Gladstone branch train heading to Hoboken stops at Murray Hill, NJ

   An eastbound local on the mainline stops at Chatham, NJ in 1975

The electrification ends in Dover, NJ.  A few diesel passenger trains continued beyond to Hacketstown or at one time up the branch to Branchville ( Appropriate name!)

   At Lake Junction the Jersey Central High Bridge branch crossed under the E-L and in 1972 a new ramp track was built to allow the CNJ to send a through train to Scranton after they pulled out of Pennsylvania. U25B 2503 leads train ES-99 up the ramp in 1975.

   Following a "Farewell to the CNJ trip", steam engine 148 returned to Whippany via the CNJ High Bridge branch.  At Lake Jct, 1235 picked up the steamer for the move to Whippany. 1975

   SD-45 3659 leads a westbound train stopping at Port Morris tower.  Port Morris was the junction point for the branch to Phillipsburg and the old mainline via Washington, NJ.

  A westbound flies along the Lackawanna cutoff which was built in the 1920's to speed up traffic and bypass the old tunnel at Manuka Chuck, NJ.  This line was abandoned by Conrail, but may be returned to service by NJ Transit for commuter service.

One of the most scenic locations that is easily accessible was the Delaware Water Gap.

Here are a few views of trains passing through the Water Gap in 1974 to 1976.

2582 eastbound       3668 on a short e/b   2551 & 2 F7's        3314 westbound       3653 & 2 C-425's

The 2551 and the 3653 are Portland, PA bound coal trains.

  Slateford Jct. in 2009.  How sad it is.

GP-9 1260 sits at Bangor, PA.  The Lackawanna had a network of lines in this area serving the cement plants.

  This what the same location looks like in 2009.

The major station stop before Scranton was East Stroudsburg, PA.  The tower controlled the sidings in the area and the junction at the Water Gap to the Portland branch.

    2009 images.  The tower is safe for now, however the station was severely damaged by a fire on October 26, 2009 !

   Here is the background picture.  3639 leading an eastbound coming down the Pocono mountain grade toward East Stroudsburg.

   Another train in the same location has two leased Milwaukee Road GP-40's in the consist.  Units 2047 and 2061 were borrowed for a time.  Was the E-L evaluating the GP-40?

   Struggling up the grade out of Scranton on a late February 1976 afternoon an eastbound train roars through Gouldsboro,PA

Scranton, PA was a major point on the Lackawanna and prior to the merger with the Erie was the site of their main shops.  Steamtown is now on this site today.

In 1975 the E-L had several sets of F7 units based there.

  F7 7111    and 7121 at the engine service tracks in 1975.

  GP-35 2557 in the snow in 1976.    1260 and CNJ 3067 in 1974.

   Those two Milwaukee Road units team up with a former passenger E8 #828 bringing interchange cars off the D&H in 1974.

Binghamton was a major point on the Erie Lackawanna.  At this point the Erie and the Lackawanna lines came together from the east.  Two lines north to Utica and to Syracuse joined the main and the Delaware and Hudson came in from the northeast and provided the E-L with a major traffic source.

   Westbound 3614 passes the old Lackawanna station.     
That red Chevy Malibu wagon belonged to the legendary J.J. Young, Jr.

  The joint Erie and D&H freight house is behind the train.  The Erie and the Lackawanna paralleled west from here as far as Elmira.  The Lackawanna main from Binghamton to Mt. Morris, NY was abandoned after the merger.

   Right behind the 3614 was GP-35 2585 on another westbound.

    3662 leads an eastbound on the former Erie tracks.  The former Lackawanna freight house is to the left.

   C-425 2458 leads a Syracuse bound train off the main and up onto the branch in 1975.  This line is now owned by the Susquehanna.

To go back to follow the former Erie side from Secaucus to Binghamton, click on this picture.

To continue west from Binghamton click this picture:

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